Are you heading back to the office on Monday?
Irish employers are being urged to take their time when managing the lifting of workplace restrictions.
The recommendation comes from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Ireland, a professional body for HR and people development.
Employers will no longer be under the same restrictions as the past few months with the removal of most Covid rules in the country.
CIPD is recommending that employers ” manage the lifting of workplace restrictions in a way that suits them and their business”.
“The changes announced by the government are to be welcomed as good news for the economy and enterprise,” said CIPD Ireland director Mary Connaughton.
“It’s also important to remember that just as each new restriction that came in took time to accept, the removal of those rules can spark some concerns in the workforce.
“Businesses have the opportunity to make a lot of their own decisions about this, and it’s important to design a reopening that works for the business and workforce”.
Employers are being asked to communicate with their employees, consult teams as plans are being finalised, provide a timeline for reopening, support employees that are anxious about returning to the office, and be flexible in how work is done to support the needs of both the business and its people.
“Employers don’t have to change existing practices if they’re working well,” Connaughton said.
“CSO figures released just last week backed up our own CIPD Ireland research about how a majority of people would like to work remotely to some extent after the pandemic.”
88% of Irish employees working remotely said they would like to continue to do so even if restrictions were lifted, and three in 10 of those would want to work from home full time.
“It’s not over yet, but the coming weeks will be the best chance we’ve had to see what that landscape could look like – and it’s in the company’s hands to design that future,” she added.
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